.

First they struck west to Le Neste, and scrambled among the rough
rocks of the Point, stepping cautiously over the gulls' nests which
lay thick all about, some with eggs and some with young.

The wonders of the sea-gardens in the rock-pools of Moie Batarde, and
the entrancing views of Herm and Jethou and Guernsey, gleaming across
the sapphire sea, with a magnificent range of snowy cloud-mountain
breasting slowly up the deep blue of the sky behind, and looking solid
enough to sit on, as Miss Penny said, absorbed them till midday.

Then they returned to the house, lit a fire of dried gorse, filled
their kettle at the well and set it to boil, and carried out a table
and chairs, for eating indoors was out of the question with such
beneficence of sunshine inviting them to the open.

All the afternoon was occupied with the wonders of the Creux-a-Vaches,
with its bold scarps and rounded slopes draped with ferns and
enamelled with flowers, and the crannies and indentations of the
northern side of the island. They sat for a time on Beleme cliff
entranced with the wonderful view of the bold western headlands of
Sark, unrolled before them like a gigantic panorama from Bec-du-Nez to
the Moie de Bretagne,--a sight the like of which one might travel many
thousand miles and still not equal. And they promised themselves a
still finer view when the setting sun washed every cliff and crag and
cranny with living gold.

But as they turned to tramp through the ragwort and bracken towards
the house, intent on cups of tea, the sight of the western sky gave
them sudden start. The solid range of snow-white cloud-mountains had
climbed the heavens half-way to the zenith, and was stretching thin
white streamers still further afield. And its base in the west had
grown dark and threatening, with pallid wisps of cloud scudding up it
like flying scouts bearing ill tidings.

"Wind, I'm afraid," said Graeme, "and maybe thunder--"

And as he spoke a zigzag flash ripped open the dark screen, and a
crackling peal came rattling over the lead-coloured sea and bellowed
past them in long-drawn reverberations.

"Johnnie was right after all, the little monkey."

"I'm sorry now I didn't give him that sixpence," said Miss Penny.

"I don't suppose it would have made much difference--except to
Johnnie. However, I hope it will soon blow over. Good thing we've got
a shelter, and we can enjoy our tea while the elements settle matters
among themselves out